


Tattooed Into My Skin

by hiddenlongings



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Good Loki, Kidnapping, M/M, Okay fine slightly less insane Loki, Who knew Tony could be a good influence?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-16
Updated: 2014-02-22
Packaged: 2018-01-12 15:16:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1189938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hiddenlongings/pseuds/hiddenlongings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He was ever present.  A voice in his ear.  A sudden thought in his head. An always loving, always terrifying God.  Tony loved him.  Tony would inject him into his blood if he could; under his skin would have to do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Kidnapped

**Author's Note:**

> So a while ago I posted a request for prompts. This was the first one I received and I wrote up 3 drabblets for this universe. I liked it so much I've decided to expand it, using the original prompt and drabblets as the skeleton. So all three will show up in this story but I'll fill in all of the blank spots around them. 
> 
> This was the prompt:
> 
> Tony (aged between 6-11) has gotten kidnapped and 'prays' for somebody to help/save him.  
> (Even in the original myth Loki had a soft spot for children in trouble^^)  
> Enter our favorite god of lies who becomes little Tony's knight in shining armour and horned helmet.  
> Tony being quite smitten (who wouldn't?) becomes Loki's first truly devoted follower and fanboy since some centuries ago, maybe even starts getting into magic and rituals with as much enthusiasm and zeal as only Tony Stark could.

* * *

At the age of 4 Tony had been given a book for his birthday from a nanny who had sort of cared about him.  It had been filled with beautiful paintings and short stories of various Norse mythological figures.  Loki had been Tony’s favorite of course.  The Trickster God always seemed to get the short end of the stick in the myths and no matter how he tried nothing seemed to work out.

Clumsy, small, too smart for his own good, Tony Stark felt an immediate kinship.

Tony had figured out at the age of 6 that Santa/The Tooth Fairy/ etc. ad nauseum didn’t exist.  God had been included on that list and he hadn’t given any more thought to mystical figures that might be waiting in the wings to give him what he wanted.

If none of them could figure out how to make his parents love him then even if they did exist what good were they.

3 years later and stout atheist or not 9 year old Tony Stark had his face buried between his wrists as he clasped his hands together in prayer, and quietly muttering to every God, Goddess or Hermaphroditic Higher Power he could think of around the dirty wad of fabric that had been stuffed into his mouth.

The men had come out of no where and snatched him off of the street, shooting down his bodyguards and throwing his skinny body into the trunk of a waiting car.

 

He hadn’t stopped screaming until they had pulled over miles later and shoved the rag, filthy with car oil and dirt into his mouth and duct taped it into place.

****

The larger of the two had snarled at him and flung him back into the trunk where he rolled in the large space, slamming against the walls at every sharp turn.

****

The rag had been shoved back deep enough in his throat that the small boy was having difficulty drawing enough breath.  His vision was starting to gray at the edges and he could feel his lungs heaving desperately for something that wasn’t there.

****

As his vision began to darken Tony thought of the portrait of Loki that had been in his book.  Dark hair and green almost black they were so dark robes and wished and clawed desperately against disbelief.

****

_Loki._

_**** _

_LOKI.  Help me. Please. Please. Please._

_**** _

_LOOOOOKKI!!!!_

****

Tony’s mental scream was abruptly cut short as the driver of the car slammed on his breaks hard enough that they fishtailed before coming to an abrupt halt as something slammed into the hood of the car.

****

Glass shattered and Tony heard a cut off shriek and he could feel the tremors of the car as though someone had been dragged bodily out of the car through the window.

****

“Where is he?”

****

The words were precise and cold, the voice unfamiliar.  Tony fought against oxygen deprivation and kicked desperately at the trunk with both of his feet.  The sneakers hitting the metal with a dull thud that he hoped his rescuer could hear.

****

“Has Midgard sunk so low then as to wage war on children?  Although I should not perhaps be surprised at the depths your kind will stoop to.”

****

The trunk opened without the benefit of the automatic release and was wrenched off of its hinges.

****

Tony crawled towards the light, hands still pawing at the duct tape that he couldn’t unwrap from his face.

****

A gentle hand slid across his face and somehow the glue gave way and Tony managed to pull it up off of his face and pulling the rag out of his mouth gagging and spitting at the taste and sudden influx of oxygen.

****

Tony tugged his t-shirt up to his face so he could mop his weepy eyes and nose before he finally got a good look at his rescuer.

****

Pale blue eyes studied him from a fox sharp face, his hair was hidden from view by an intricately detailed helmet that had two sharp horns that erupted from his forehead and curved up and back in a threatening display.

****

Green robes and shining armor and Tony had never been a child with good impulse control.

****

He leapt from the trunk of the car and wrapped his arms and legs around the man, the God, in front of him.

****

“Loki.”

****

Thin eyebrows climbed upwards and Loki had to quickly drop the driver who he had been holding up by his scruff so that he could wrap his arms around the boy before he slid down his frame.

****

“You came for me.”

****

“Your yell was loud enough to wake the dead.”

****

“No one has ever come for me before.”

****

“Well then obviously you were praying to the wrong sort.”

****

Tony smiled as he pulled his face free of where he had buried it in Loki’s neck where warm skin and soft velvet joined and he looked back at the car.

****

One of the kidnappers was at their feet, the other was unconscious in the passenger seat and the front of the car had two boot sized indents in the hood.

****

“Did you come out of the sky?”

****

“Where else?”

****

Tony looked at Loki for several moments, his lips pursed and his eyes narrowed a little as he thought that through.

 

“Awesome!”

 

As he burrowed back into Loki, ignoring the cold chill of the armor and one of his fingers tracing the intricate designs on the cloak clasp, Tony smiled wide and his eyes shone with something that made Loki struggle to hold back a smirk of his own.

 

* * *

 

 

The cops found him an hour later.  Tony was sitting on top of the car with his legs kicking back and forth happily through the broken window and two unconscious would be kidnappers firmly tied and gagged at his feet.  The car slid to a slow stop and the stupified Deputy at the wheel could feel his jaw perform a slow drop.  Tony waved cheerily at the uniformed police officers and waited impatiently for them to get out of the car.

 

He patted self consciously at one of his back pockets, checking and rechecking that the small charm that Loki had given him was still there.  The God didn't want to leave him alone in the desert but he had apparently bolted from some sort of ceremonial to do and he needed to get back home.  Even in the heat Tony could still feel where the cold press of his lips had stroked across his forehead.  The small boy had leaned into the affectionate display with shocked pleasure and he had clung hard to Loki's shoulders until the God had made him reluctantly let go and placed him on top of the car.

 

A couple of shivery sounding words and the two thugs who had kidnapped him were bound and unconscious at his feet.

 

Loki had given Tony a small smile as he reached into a pouch at his waist and held something out to the boy.  It glimmered and gleamed in the bright light of the sun and Tony had hesitantly reached for it.  The glimmering silver chain was threaded through a pendant that was covered in intricate knotwork in the shape of some sort of bird. 

 

"Your rescue came at an awkward time little one. I am afraid I will not be able to stay long with you." 

 

Tony bit his lip and retracted his hand quickly.

 

"No." Loki chided. He pulled Tony's hand back and dropped the pendant and necklace into the palm of his hand.

 

"This will help me locate you quickly.  I will be back soon and I have no desire to wander Midgard calling your name."

 

Tony giggled and his hand clenched tight his flesh turning white around the sharp edge of the beak.

 

"Like a homing beacon?"

 

Loki's forehead furrowed in confusion.

 

"I know not what that is."

 

"It's an electronic device that sends out a signal to other devices to tell people where it is."

 

"Yes.  It is something like that.  Only this is imbued with my magic so I may find it where ever it and you may go."

 

"Magic's not real."

 

Loki's eyes narrowed and Tony repressed a shiver.

 

"You are wrong; but what can one expect from an inhabitant of this wretched plane."

 

Loki turned away from Tony only to stop as his cloak pulled taut from the grip that the small boy had on it.

 

"I will see you soon young one.  Fear not."

 

"How come?"

 

Loki's face broke into a jagged smile and his eyes lit from within.

 

"You have something of a spark in you young one."

 

"My names Tony...Tony Stark."

 

"A spark of magic and your belief in me, which is no small thing, mean that you are sure to be a very interesting Midgardian, Tony Stark."

 

Tony bit his lip and let go of Loki's cloak.  Loki leaned close and swept an affectionate hand  through the short spikes of Tony's dark hair.

 

"Soon."

 

Loki turned again and as soon as he reached a safe distance from the car a bright beam of light shot down from the sky and took him away.

 

Tony loosened his grip on the bird and looked at it intently.  The knotwork was so tightly wound he could see neither beginning nor end of the piece and when he looked at it even closer he could see faint marks that covered the entire wire.  Some sort of words or letters. 

 

Tony thought they were beautiful. 

 

When he heard the sound of the car coming down the road and saw its shimmering form appear over the horizon he had quickly shoved it into his back pocket.  He didn't want anyone taking it from him.

 

The cops were finally slowly getting out of the car, heads craning and eyes wide as they looked for the person responsible for the dented hood and the unconscious kidnappers.

 

"Mr. Stark?"

 

"Yup."  Tony's smile was broad and he brought his legs up under his chin and let his head rest while he waited for the police officers to continue.

 

"Mind telling me how this particular scene happened?"

 

"They hit somethin'. I think it knocked'em out and released the catch on the trunk."

 

"So you got out of the trunk and tied them up."

 

"I." Said Tony Stark gravely. "Am really fucking smart."

 

* * *

 

 


	2. Family

Jarvis hugged Tony when he picked him up from the police station. The elderly butler was never one for emotional displays but he seemed somewhat overcome by the near miss. His eyes were a little misty and his hands trembled the slightest bit as he pulled Tony’s head into the divot of his shoulder.

Tony released a shaky sigh and leaned into the embrace.

“Are Bruce and Jonathan okay?”

“A little banged up. They’re both in the hospital for a couple of weeks but they should be fine.”

“Good. I’d like to go home now.”

“Sir?”

Tony pulled his head away from Jarvis’ shoulder and looked at the quizzical expression on the Police Chief’s face.

“This is Jarvis. My butler.”

“We really need to speak to his parents Mr. Jarvis.”

Tony snorted hard and reluctantly pulled free of the warm embrace.

“Please. As if my mother would leave her latest charity and my father is currently working on some sort of ludicrously powerful weapon for the army. Neither of them are in the country, nor will they be for some time.”

“You’ve just been kidnapped I’m sure…”

“Ha!” Tony’s bark of laughter was sharp enough to make the chief flinch a little. 

“Mr. Stark.” Jarvis’ tone was low but Tony could hear the censor in it before he turned to face the policeman. “Chief Reynold’s I will be sure to have them contact you as soon as possible.”

“Oh I’m sorry Jarvis am I suppose to pretend they give a shit?” Tony turned suddenly wide and watery eyes up to the tall policeman. “Why haven’t they come for me? Am I destined to live as an orphan for all my days because I have failed to reach some standard of perfection that only my parents, in their inscrutable ways, can see. What’s a young genius and future very rich son of a bitch to do? Shall I weep? Wail? Fall to my knees in anguish?”

Jarvis snatched up Tony’s wrist and began to drag the boy from the station. This only meant that Tony had to speak louder to make sure that his last words could hit the stunned man in the face.

“I find I shall do none of these things because who gives a fuck where they are, after all I should just be grateful that I was granted such privilege and a very financially secure future.”

“Sir.” Jarvis’ sharp voice cut through the air like a gunshot and Tony fell silent as they stepped out into a mass of reporters. Tony ducked his head into the black fabric of Jarvis’ suit and let himself be led to a waiting limo without speaking another word.

Tony refused to look anywhere except for the floor and he sat on one of his hands so that he could feel the shape and sharpness of the bird pendant without taking it out of his pocket.

He couldn’t wait to get home. He’d been working on some circuitry after school before the kidnapping. He'd been fussing with it for weeks whenever he could. He knew it was a hopeless bid for some attention from his father and he vowed to shove all of that aside.

Computers and electronics were brilliant and he’d never want to give them up but Tony could already feel a shift in his mind. He wondered what sort of books he could get at the library that would help him learn more about Loki. Tony thought about the beautiful carvings that had wound their way around and through Loki’s armor and the pendant and he wondered what they meant.

He needed to know. He needed to know everything.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jarvis rapped on the window that separated them from the driver and they quickly sped from the curb before the reporters could start molesting the limo. His rheumy eyes quickly mopped the elderly butler studied his young charge with greedy eyes. He had been so afraid that he would never see Tony again. His recovery without ransom or loss of limb was a bona fide miracle but he could see the way that Tony was trying to hide his reaction to the traumatic experience. 

Usually the boy was all bouncing energy and chattering mouth but now he sat slumped, tightly wedged into a corner. His baggy t-shirt had revealed a bruised rope burn which encircled both thin wrists and Jarvis could see what looked like faint scratch marks on Tony’s cheeks. He had probably been fighting to get some sort of gag off of his face. Really, Jarvis thought with a frown, if the two men hadn’t already been gibbering messes going on and on about some fabled rescuer appearing from the sky he’d have given them a beating himself. 

Jarvis shifted his weight so that he could reach towards his young charge and was rewarded with a full bodied flinch. 

“Sir. I just wanted to see if your wounds needed bandaging.”

“Nah, Jarvis, I’m fine.”

“Somehow sir I believe that to be a falsehood.”

Tony’s too bright coppery brown eyes fixed on him with a nearly feral glare and for a moment Jarvis could see the future. Tony Stark as an adult was sure to be something a cut above both of his parents if he lived to see adulthood.

“If I was anything less than fine what exactly would you do Jarvis?”

“We would continue to our destination.”

Tony frowned and he was suddenly a very small boy again.

“Aw man are we going to the hospital?”

“Yes.”

“But couldn’t we just…”

“No.”

“But.”

“No.”

Tony slumped back down into his corner his still sitting on one of his hands while his other was brought up to his face. He gently probed at the slices his frantic fingernails had left in his face when he had been struggling to pull the gag out of his mouth.

Jarvis briefly wished that the boy was still small enough to accept sitting in his lap so that he could hug and hold the boy close. 

The limo ride was blessedly short as they pulled up to the small private clinic that was expecting them. The waiting area was a posh empty room that they barely had a chance to glance at before a sweet faced nurse ushered them into a private examination room where Tony’s usual doctor was waiting for them. Doctor Cooper was an elderly man who was slightly stooped and his long jaw gave his cheeks a cavernous look. 

Tony hated him of course. To be honest Jarvis wasn’t much of a fan either; but Mr. Stark had chosen the best doctor that he could find on paper and had never bothered to meet him or listen to Tony’s complaints.

“Well Mr. Stark if you would take a seat.”

Tony eyed the clearly too tall table before he clambered up awkwardly and turned to face the two adults. He leaned back on both of his hands for a moment in a bid for nonchalance but the bruising from the restraints was painful enough that he quickly folded them into his lap. 

Jarvis may not have liked the sour faced doctor but he did admit to trusting him to be thorough in his examination. His trust was not misplaced as both wrists were gently turned and prodded for several moments before cleaning and wrapping them with efficient hands before the doctor moved on to the obvious marks that streaked down his young charge’s face.

“Did the gag impede your breathing?”

Tony’s eyes gleamed wetly for a moment before he hid them with low slung eyelids and Jarvis had to tighten his hands behind his back in order to keep a proper distance.

“Yes.” Tony’s voice was low and a little snuffly but he responded readily enough.

“Did you lose consciousness?”

“No.”

Dr. Cooper nodded acceptingly before he grabbed hold of Tony’s face and began to turn it this way and that to study it in the light. Tony flinched backwards but the doctor’s grip never loosened until the elderly man had seen everything that he wanted to.

“Those could do with some cleaning.” The doctor swiftly wiped them down with an alcoholic solution that made Tony flinch again, this time with pain. “No bandages though. Did they hit you? Hurt you anywhere else?”

Tony silent rolled up his right sleeve and revealed a large bruise that encircled it. The purpling flesh shown clearly in the light, the exact shape of a large man’s hand. 

Cooper leaned forward and poked it gently before he retracted his hands quickly already turning away to write down some quick notes on his notepad.

“He should take a couple of child’s aspirin. I’ll have a nurse bring them in. Other than that keep his wrists clean and wipe down his cheeks a couple of times a day. Nothing’s broken he should be fine.”

Doctor Cooper swept out of the room before either Tony or Jarvis could respond and the same pretty nurse swept in a couple of moments later with some aspirin and a small paper cup of water.

As the pair once more sat in the limo after they had been hustled out of the office Jarvis lost the last of his restraint. Tony was settling back into the corner that he had huddled in before and his breath huffed out of him in surprise when Jarvis gently grasped the small boy by his waist and pulled him into his arms; cuddling him close.

The little body stayed stiff and bony for several long breaths before Jarvis felt the muscles loosen and he could almost hear something break in Tony’s chest as he collapsed into the starched fabric of Jarvis’ suit and he began to shake.

“I was very concerned about you today sir.”

Tony stayed quiet, he just snuggled as close as he could get to the elderly man and let one of his hands wind around a staid tie, the other gripping the fabric at his shoulder. As he began to cry silently the only Jarvis could do was hold him closer and bury his face deep into the wild mass of black hair.


End file.
